The Citizens Equity Committee (CEC) is mandated to advise the Mayor and Council on equity and diversity issues as they impact on City of Winnipeg policies, procedures and services. The CEC organize the annual Youth Role Model Awards to honour Winnipeg youth who demonstrates outstanding achievements in within the following eight categories:

· Rosalinda Natividad Cantiveros Award for Courage

· Community Volunteering

· Sports

· Education and Training

· Performing Arts

· Creative Arts

· Community Health & Wellness

· Advocacy

Eligibility:

· Be a resident of Winnipeg

· Be between the ages of 15 and 17 (Junior Achiever) or 18 and 24 (Senior Achiever)

· Submit a written autobiography

· Be ready to be interviewed by the Selection Committee

· Be an outstanding achiever in one or more of the Award Categories, described below

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This blog is reposted to see if there is any interest from my fellow citizens in our communities that want to do something to take a stand against the sexual predators that roam our streets and exploit our children and family members. Our responsibility to do something about this is not going away – let’s do this together. – MC

So I am of the opinion that those who can, MUST speak for those who cannot. When I read the most recent Winnipeg Police Service’s report on how they are committed to helping sexually exploited youth, I was thrilled. I was happy to get the email because I want to see that our police are doing more to stop the human trafficking that goes on. Its extra upsetting because the victims are just getting younger (http://bit.ly/oAAC83). Here are the #s in the report:

Pretty good eh? I think that’s ok except…something seems strange about these numbers. From what I know, young people in the sex trade are being exploited. Where in these numbers are the ADULTS who actually EXPLOIT our kids???? One adult was ‘cautioned’? Really? That seems like a small number to me. Maybe its cuz the cops need more eyes on this situation. Now, I don’t know about you other North Enders reading this or not, but I see creepers out and about all the time. And I for one, would like to see those creepers, many of whom drive around in their company vehicles held accountable.

I think the citizens of winnipeg should get together and say we will not stand for this anymore. We will not allow our children to be treated as objects, abused and then abandoned.

#JohnWatchWPG

Starting now, myself and the #JohnWatchWPG Team will be sending out info to twitter so that citizens can keep an eye on the streets ourselves. If any of you notice someone creepy and the police do not respond, are unavailable, or you would rather do something about it right now, join us. Use the hash tag #JohnWatchWPG and send the info to our whole city (#Winnipeg).

Together we are stronger people, and this ones for the kids.

MC

—–original e-mail excerpt—-

PROJECT RETURN, JULY 7, 2011The Winnipeg Police Service Vice Unit and Missing Persons Unit, working in partnership with Community Social Services Agencies, initiated a joint project to target youth at high risk of being sexually exploited or victimized in our city.

On July 7, 2011 Winnipeg Police Service members and our partners, pro actively addressed these issues surrounding the sex trade and our at risk youth. 3 arrests of sex trade workers were made and several youth acting as sex trade workers were identified. 33 addresses were further checked for youth who are currently missing and 7 at risk youth were each transported to a place of safety. One adult was cautioned for Interfering with a Child in Care under Section 52 of the Child and Family Services Act.

Our commitment to issues surrounding the sex trade and missing youth will continue.

– Crowdsourcing uses technology and social media to harness the power of the masses. Because you can report either with an email or anonymously, we are hoping to get more accurate #s of how many Indigenous woman have gone missing or who have been murdered or sexually assaulted

– If you go to the site, there are instructions on how to embed the map into your own website.

– Police forces and other authorities have shirked their responsibilities for too long. This project is meant to not only shame those authorities into getting the work done, but is also meant to provide an outlet for women, workers, and families to be able to document cases that do not receive ample attention elsewhere.

HOW:

– This project is being supported at least in part by members of the collective Anonymous. It is part of #OpThunderbird which started as a way to pressure the Thunder Bay Police to solve the sexual assault of an Indigenous woman in December of 2012. This woman was brutally beaten and raped, her attackers told her they had done this before and would do it again, and when they left her in the bush to die, they told her she deserved to lose her treaty rights. She lived, walked hours back to the city in the freezing cold, and reported the crime to the police.

– Since the beginning of #OpThunderbird, members of the Anonymous collective have been able to acquire important information about the case and have started to leak it. They are actively and effectively highlighting the racism and negligence of the TBay PD and are also finding more evidence to build cases. Supporting this project means supporting a novel plan of action to bring justice to our sisters, aunties, mothers, grandmothers, and daughters.

Miigwech for taking the time to learn about this project. Please support it the best you know how – distribute this email widely, talk about the project to others, support the Indigenous women in your life.